
The trifluoromethoxy group is the
chemical group
In organic chemistry, a functional group is any substituent or moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions regardless of the re ...
–O–. It can be seen as a
methoxy group
In organic chemistry, a methoxy group is the functional group consisting of a methyl group bound to oxygen. This alkoxy group has the formula .
On a benzene ring, the Hammett equation classifies a methoxy substituent at the ''para'' position a ...
–O– whose
hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
atoms are replaced by
fluorine
Fluorine is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen and exists at Standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions as pale yellow Diatomic molecule, diatomic gas. Fluorine is extre ...
atoms; or as a
trifluoromethyl group
The trifluoromethyl group is a functional group that has the formula . The naming of is group is derived from the methyl group (which has the formula ), by replacing each hydrogen atom by a fluorine atom. Some common examples are trifluoromethane ...
attached to the rest of the molecule by a bridging
oxygen
Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
atom; either leads to viable syntheses.
[''Synthetic Approaches to Trifluoromethoxy-Substituted Compounds'' A. Tlili, F. Toulgoat, T. Billard, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 11726–11735; ] Compounds having this functional group are of some relevance as pharmaceuticals. One example is
riluzole
Riluzole is a medication used to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other motor neuron diseases. Riluzole delays the onset of ventilator-dependence or tracheostomy in some people and may increase survival by two to three months. Ril ...
.
See also
*
Trifluoromethylation
References
{{organohalide-stub
Haloalkyl groups